Cat Sense: How the New Feline Science Can Make You a Better Friend to Your Pet

Bradshaw (Dog Sense), foundation director of the Anthrozoology Institute at the University of Bristol, engagingly synthesizes recent academic research about cats. Chapters covering the origins of cat domestication, feline emotions, and behavior, and the challenges cats face in the future, balance kernels of facts with thoughtful and surprisingly analyses. For example, Bradshaw recounts the evolution from wild cat to domesticated animal: the invention of storage facilities for grain attracted rodent pests, which in turn attracted wild cats, who eventually became reliant on the perpetual food source of rats and mice, and became domesticated over time. Contrary to popular belief, a cat’s purr is not a sign of contentment; rather, it is a request for “someone else, whether cat or human, to do something for it,” such as prolonging “the circumstances that are making” the cat contented. Bradshaw convincingly argues that cats are not—or should not be—low-maintenance, and that their reputation for being so is a barrier to their owners spending the time needed to train them. Readable, practical, and original, this is likely to become the go-to book for understanding cat behavior. Agent: Patrick Walsh, Conville & Walsh. (Sept.)